September 20, 2012

Kimberly was deported today by Harper - shame.

We are writing to request that you reconsider your decision to deport Kimberly Rivera. We do not see how you can justify deporting Kimberly to a U.S. military prison for up to five years and at the same time say that you are for families and against crime? To us, it seems you are still fighting and supporting George Bush's war in Iraq.

Kimberly ought not to serve one second in custody, nor should she experience the pain of losing her four children.

To us, you are trampling on the graves of the 50 million people who died in the Second World War. That war taught us soldiers must feel and be protected if they refuse to participate in war crimes. Let us put it this way. A police officer who is ordered to commit a crime can always resign. A soldier ordered to commit a crime too often has a far more difficult time resigning, and you need to understand that.

Some of you are replying to letters from our supporters saying that Kimberly has broken the law in the U.S. by deserting the army. But in fact she followed international law by refusing to participate in an illegal, unjust war in which the U.S. military committed serious crimes on a monumental scale, killing hundreds of thousands of people and wrecking Iraq's economy, social programs, historical treasures and the environment for tens of thousands of years with depleted uranium.

This fully justifies her decision to desert. She complied with international law. It is the Conservative government that is breaking the law by not upholding Canada's legal obligation to oppose war crimes and to help soldiers who oppose such crimes.

The most important and progressive legacy of fascism's defeat in the Second World War is the United Nations Charter which sets out important laws for the future of humanity, including requirements to avoid war as a way of resolving disputes between nations - ignored in Iraq's case. As the Nuremberg Nazi trials established, soldiers could no longer say they were "just following orders" to avoid responsibility for war crimes.

We are also concerned that you do not care that you would be sending Kimberly to a harsh military prison in an army rife with serious sexual abuse and torture, as Bradley Manning is experiencing according to the U.N. special rapporteur on torture and hundreds of U.S. legal scholars.